Felicità
by bellamente
Summary: The sequel to Before and After. Victoria is finally dead. But so is Bella to the rest of her family. What will Bella's new life with the Cullens be like? Felicità means "happiness" in Italian. Not necessary to read Before and After first.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody! I'm sure you were all waiting for the sequel to **_**Before and After.**_** Well, here is—finally! I hope you all enjoy it! Reviews are very much appreciated—they give me a motive to continue writing! Well, without further ado, here is chapter 1 of **_**F**__**elicità.**_

**One more thing--I want to give a HUGE thank you to my two betas, mytypeofheroin and cullen num.1fan. Without their amazing editing skills, my story would pretty much suck.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or the soon-to-be-released Eclipse. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Chapter 1**

"I don't see why I can't come!

"Bella, there are so many things that could go wrong! You could be seen! How would that go over with everyone?"

"You're going!"

"Well...yes...but..."

"If you can go, why can't I?"

"Well, for one thing, it would be dangerous for you to be around so many people. You aren't under control of your senses yet! You were changed a little over a week ago. It would be very dangerous for you to be there."

"Edward, that's not fair! You could stay with me the whole time, and we could hide somewhere where no one would see us." I gave him puppy eyes. "Please..."

His face softened for a moment as he looked into my eyes, but then he glared at me, realizing what I was doing. "That won't work," he said sternly.

"Edward!"

"Bella, no. That is my final answer. Why would you want to go to your own funeral anyway?"

"Well, for one thing, I want to see who all actually goes to it." I could almost see Lauren sitting in the church, looking at my coffin, and muttering nonsense things like "Oh, we'll all miss her so much! She was _such_ a good friend to all of us!" I grinned. "And I want to see how everyone reacts to me being dead," I continued. "And I want to see my mother and Charlie one last time..." I trailed off as I thought about them.

"What's going on here?" Carlisle asked as he walked into Edward's room a moment later, followed by Emmett and Esme.

"Arguing about going to the funeral again," Emmett said, shaking his head.

"I just don't see why I can't go! Edward gets to go, and he's supposed to be dead too!" I said.

"Bella, we've discussed this," Carlisle said as he put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I sighed, shook his hand off, and sat down on the bed.

Edward and I had gotten a bed to put in his—well, our—room. Even though we didn't sleep, it was still nice to have for, uh, other things...

Esme sat down next to me and put her arm around me in a very motherly way. "Bella, I know you want to go. You have good reason to. But I just don't think it would be the best idea. It would be dangerous to be around so many people when you're so young. And there is always the chance that you could be seen."

I glared at her. "Edward's going," I said again.

Esme sighed and turned to look up at Carlisle. She stood up and took him aside. They made a point to talk very quietly so none of us could hear, even with our vampire hearing.

Emmett walked over to me. "Bella, why would you want to be at your funeral anyway? It would just make you even more depressed than you already are about this whole thing."

"I am not depressed about anything," I angrily snapped in reply. He rolled his eyes.

"Right. Ok. Sure."

I shook my head at Emmett, stood up, and slowly walked over to the glass window-wall. I reached out to touch the glass as I looked out it, and saw the small river that flows through the Cullens' yard. I wished I could just get away from this conversation—we've had it at least five times already this week—and go relax outside by the river. Or, better yet, go to the meadow with Edward and relax. I closed my eyes and imagined us, lying there, side by side. The warm sun beating down on us, and our skin sparkling and reflecting sunlight like thousands of tiny mirrors were on our skin. And we wouldn't have to hide—we could just sit there for hours on end, like we were the only two people in the world...

I was brought out of my wonderful, blissful daydream by Carlisle clearing his throat as he and Esme walked back over to us.

"We thought about it, and Esme and I agree that Bella is right," Carlisle said.

"I can go!?" I asked excitedly, interrupting him.

"Not exactly," he said. "Esme and I think that neither of you should be able to go." Edward and I began to protest. Carlisle put his hand up, and we were immediately silent. "Bella has made some good points. She can't go because she might be seen. Edward could also be seen. It would be just like the scene from Tom Sawyer if the other people at the funeral saw you." I giggled to myself as I remembered that part of Tom Sawyer, when Tom and Huck Finn were watching their own funeral from the ceiling in the church. Then I remembered how the others had reacted when Tom and Huck fell through the ceiling. I guess Carlisle had a point. Edward and I sighed in unison.

"Fine..." I muttered, speaking for both of us.

Emmett turned to Edward. "Hey, look on the bright side! This means that you and Bella have a couple hours alone, to do whatever you want..." he raised his eyebrows at Edward and I'm sure he thought some vulgar thing to him.

The next second, Emmett was on the ground, and Edward was on top of him. I ran over and pulled Edward off Emmett, and Carlisle and Esme restrained Emmett from fighting back at Edward.

"Hey, I know you were thinking it. I was just saying it..." he said, trying to sound innocent, as he shrugged.

"Since when do you know what Edward's thinking?" I asked Emmett.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry. That's your talent. So, what was in Edward's mind just now?" Emmett replied with a sly smile. "Was he imagining undressing you? Or maybe he was doing something more..."

Without really knowing I was doing it, I released Edward. We both lunged for Emmett, and the next second he was lying on the ground as Edward and I both tried to inflict as much pain on him as we could without seriously injuring him. Carlisle grabbed Edward, Esme grabbed me, and Alice and Rosalie, hearing the noise, ran upstairs and were able to hold Emmett back. Edward and I both struggled to get out of Carlisle and Esme's arms, but it was impossible.

_We might as well stop struggling,_ I though to Edward.

_Fine. But we will get back at him,_ he thought back.

_Oh, definitely,_ I thought with a grin as I began to think of different ways to make Emmett suffer. We both stopped struggling, and Carlisle and Esme released us, followed by and Alice and Rosalie releasing Emmett. We all glared at each other, and then, with an over-dramatic huff, Emmett left the room, followed by Alice, who was giggling, Rosalie, who was rolling her eyes at us, Esme, who had a look on her face that said "teenagers these days…", and Carlisle, who had wrapped an arm around Esme.

_So, just curious, what _were _you thinking about?_ I asked Edward as they all left.

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. _Wouldn't you like to know..._ he thought. I slapped him gently on the arm. Suddenly, he yelled down the hall.

"Ew! Emmett!" he said as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.

"Sorry!" Emmett yelled back. "Just thinking about being able to be alone..." he trailed off.

_I did not want to see that,_ Edward thought to me.

_Emmett thinking about Rosalie again? _I asked. Edward nodded, still rubbing his temples. Then he began to hit the side of his head.

"Emmett!" he yelled again.

"I can't help it!" Emmett yelled.

"Think about something else, please!" Edward yelled. Emmett didn't answer. A moment later, Edward got an incredibly angry look on his face.

"EMMETT!" he yelled. His voice sounded incredibly angry too. A low growl escaped from him, and he tried to run out of the room. I held him back.

"Edward? What is he thinking about now?" I asked. Another growl escaped Edward's lips, and he began to struggle even more.

"**EMMETT!**" he yelled again, even louder than before. Suddenly I got a picture in my mind. I don't think Edward meant to think it to me, but sometimes we would lose control of our powers. I realized, with a gasp, that this was what Emmett had started thinking about after Edward said to "think about something else."

I saw a picture of me, completely naked.

"_**EMMETT!**_" Edward and I yelled at the same time. _Kill him for me,_ I thought to Edward as I let him go. He ran out of the room and a moment later, I heard snarling coming from Rosalie and Emmett's room.

"I told you to think of something else!" I heard Edward yell.

"I did think of something else!" Emmett protested, also yelling.

"I didn't mean for you to think about _my_ fiancée!" Edward yelled back. I heard a crashing noise, and more snarling. I couldn't help but grin. I fell back onto the bed, laughing.

I turned my head so I was looking at the pictures sitting on my bedside table. The first was of my mother and I, taken by Phil right before I left for my first day of 10th grade. My mother had been trying to curl my hair so I would look nice for my first day of school, but I was firmly resisting. In the picture, I was pushing her away with my right hand, and she had the curling iron in her right hand. But as I pushed her away, she stumbled, and the curling iron had pressed against my forehead. The picture captured the moment when the curling iron made contact with my head, and I started screaming in pain. My expression was hilarious. I laughed as I remembered, but then stopped as I realized I would never be able to have fun times like this with her again.

I scooted so I was lying on my side of the bed, with my head on my pillow. I got under the blankets, and wrapped my arms around another pillow. I looked at the other pictures I had on the table next to my bed. One was a picture of Charlie and I, and the other was of Jacob and I (Edward had sighed in disapproval as I put this picture next to my bed, but he let me leave it there, for which I was grateful.) I reached over and ran my fingers over the pictures.

"I miss you guys," I whispered to the pictures. "I never even got to say goodbye..." I moved my hand away and wrapped my arms around the pillow again. "I love you..." I whispered to the pictures. A moment later, I felt someone lay down beside me on the bed.

_Did you take care of Emmett?_ I asked. He sighed.

_No. Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper came in and broke up our fight._ I tried to give him a smile, but I couldn't. I was thinking about my mother, Charlie, and Jacob.

_Are you ok?_ Edward asked. I slowly shook my head. Edward snuggled closer to me, and wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me closer to him, and I closed my eyes as I tried to relax.

_I miss them, _I thought.

_I know, Bella. Everything will be ok, _he replied, knowing who I was thinking about immediately. He wrapped his arms tighter around me, and kissed my hair.

I felt so happy, but at the same time, so sad. I lost my mother and father. I lost one of my best friends. I had to start over and have an almost completely new life. But I have two wonderful sisters, and two wonderful brothers. I have two adopted parents that love me. I'm sitting here, in the arms of the love of my life, and we get to live together for the rest of eternity.

But I still couldn't help but be upset. If Edward had changed me after graduation as planned, then I could have done all the things that I wanted to do before I "died." But because of Victoria, I was changed into a vampire three weeks earlier than I thought I was going to. Because of this, Edward and I weren't able to have our perfect wedding. I wasn't able to graduate. I wasn't even able to say my final goodbyes to Charlie and Renée. And it was all Victoria's fault.

_What's wrong now?_ Edward asked.

_What? _How did he know that something was wrong?

_You just became more tense. What's wrong?_

I half smiled. Edward could read me so well, even with not being able to hear my thoughts. _I was just thinking about Victoria._ I could feel him tighten his grip on me, protectively.

_Don't worry, Bella. There is no way she can do anything else to you. She's gone. For good. _He kissed my hair again. I smiled and gently nodded my head

After the whole me-becoming-a-vampire thing had settled down, Edward had told me about how his family had killed Victoria, and how they all survived. He was surprised to know that I didn't remember Victoria bringing him, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper into the room where I was hiding. I told him that I didn't remember anything after the conversation Victoria and I had about vampires' souls not being lost. It wasn't until a while after I woke up from my transformation that I even remembered that Edward and his siblings were supposedly dead, and that Victoria had been attacking us. Emmett laughed for twenty minutes straight when I randomly started screaming "Wait! What about Victoria!? Oh my god Edward she's going to kill us! Where is she!? She killed you! Oh my god, Edward, you're dead! This means I'm dead! We're all dead together!"

I was incredibly confused when Edward calmed me down and told me that we weren't dead. He explained that Victoria and the other vampires with her had told me that the Cullens were dying to scare and upset me—another way for Victoria to torture me. I was in such a daze when I realized that Victoria was actually dead and gone, that when Emmett, Jasper, and Alice were telling me how they survived, I hardly heard any of it. I didn't really care _how_ they survived—as long as they were alive and well, and Victoria was gone, I was happy.

Edward grabbed my hand and brought it up to his lips. He gently kissed the back of it, and then wrapped his arms tighter around me. _There is no reason to be afraid of Victoria,_ he thought to me once more.

_I'm not afraid of her, Edward. I...I was just thinking about what she did. Because of her, I'll never see my mom or dad again. I'll never see all my other friends. I have to completely start my life over. I'll never get to see Jaco—_

I stopped. I knew Edward wouldn't want to hear about Jacob. I was right, because the moment I began to think his name, Edward sighed and loosened his grip on me a little.

_Edward, I just...I mean..._

_Bella, it's ok. I know you miss your friend. I...I guess I'm just...I don't know. _

I turned my head so I was looking at Edward. I gave him a light kiss, and then turned back around so I was looking at the pictures again.

_I think I understand what you mean, _I thought. As much as he denied it, I could tell he was a bit jealous of Jake. Of all the good times we had together, and how much I talked about him. It made it worse that Jake was there for me when Edward wasn't, and I knew that, because of this, Edward was even more jealous of him.

So often, I wished I could see Jacob one last time. In a week, we would be moving, and I would probably never see him again. He was my best friend for so long—the only person there for me when Edward left. Without him, who knows what I would've been like in those eight months. I wondered, did I ever tell him how grateful I was for him? I know Edward thanked him for being there for me, but did I ever express my gratitude to him? I realized that I didn't. And that made me want to talk to him even more.

I was about to ask Edward if I could call Jacob, but I knew that he would say no. I couldn't blame him. If I did call him, our cover would be blown. Jake would tell everybody we were still alive, and there would be a whole bunch of questions. No, I couldn't call him. I couldn't talk to him.

I was never going to see him again. And I wished, even thought I knew that it would ruin everything, that I could see him once more. I thought for a moment, that it would be an okay price to pay—having my entire future messed up so I could talk to my friend one more time. I laughed to myself as I thought this. How selfish could I be? Would I really mess up my and my family's future, only so I could talk to my friend once more?

But as my thoughts drifted away from Jacob, I realized that, yes, I would.

We laid there in silence for a while, and Edward tightened his grip around me again. My thoughts wandered from my ex-best friend to my fiancée. Edward and I were planning on having our wedding in a few weeks. We had found a place up in Alaska, where we were going to live temporarily, where we could wed. Carlisle was still going to be the minister, and we were still not going to have a large wedding. Just the Cullen family would be present.

Edward continued to kiss my hair, and then started to kiss my shoulder, and I felt him sit up a little as he kissed my cheek. I turned my body so I was lying on my other side, facing him, and he kissed my lips. _What brought all this on?_ I asked, a bit surprised by all this kissing. He sighed, and shrugged.

_Is it wrong for me to want to kiss my fiancée?_ he asked. _Is that such a crime, Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen?_ I giggled.

_I suppose not_, I thought as I leaned in to kiss him again. I pulled away quickly, and he pouted. I loved being able to tease him like this!

_I wasn't finished kissing you, _he thought, quoting something I had said to him last year when I was in the hospital. And then he did that incredibly unfair smoldering eyes thing, and I struggled to keep conscious. He leaned in closer to me, and I could feel his breath on my face. I breathed in his scent, and he reached up and put his hand on my cheek.

"Bella..." he murmured, so quiet I could barely hear him, even with my new vampire hearing. His lips gently touched mine, and I stopped breathing all together, like I often did when we kissed. He pulled me closer to him, and I wrapped my arms around him. I opened my mouth slightly, and he paused. I could tell that he was still thinking about our old boundaries, like he did whenever we had kissed in the past week. Normally he would stop kissing me, because he wasn't used to our new, non-existent boundaries. But today something changed. After he paused, he didn't break away, instead he sank even deeper into the kiss. He opened his mouth too, and I felt his tongue slide into my mouth. I pulled away, surprised by the turn our kiss had taken. I sat up, and he did too. He looked at me, shocked, almost appalled, at what he had done.

"Bella...I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I thought..." but I didn't let him finish. I quickly closed the gap between our lips and kissed him, and not just a gentle kiss like before. I opened my mouth again, and he did the same. His tongue entered my mouth again, and brushed along my lower lip. He wrapped his arms around me, and I put my hands on his cheeks. I ran my fingers through his hair, and could feel every inch of my body against his. "Bella..." he whispered in the seconds when our lips were apart. His hands ran up and down my torso over my shirt, and I was surprised—as I always was—that his hands were not cold like I was so used to. He tore his lips away from mine and kissed down my neck. I pulled him back down on the bed, so he was lying on top of me. He continued to kiss my neck, and I ran my fingers through his hair. I pulled his face back up towards mine, and kissed his lips again. Our kiss continued to get more urgent, and increasingly passionate I was so caught up in the kiss that I acted on pure selfish impulse. I wrapped my legs around Edward's, and began to rock back and forth against him. He kissed me with more passion, and I was so glad that our boundaries were now almost completely gone. We rolled over so I was on top of him, and reached for the buttons on his shirt. I had them all unbuttoned and was about to take off his shirt, when Alice burst into our room. Edward and I looked up and saw her, with a look of pure horror on her pixie-like face. She turned around and stomped back out of the room, and closed the door behind her. Edward and I looked at each other, our eyes both wide, and then heard her let out a little, quiet scream.

We un-tangled our legs and arms, and sat up quickly. He buttoned his shirt back up, and I adjusted mine. We walked towards Edward's door, and we both reached for the door handle at the same time. Our hands touched, and our eyes met. I looked away sheepishly, sure that I would be bright red if I were human, and Edward chuckled at my immaturity. He opened the door, and I saw Alice sitting on the ground, with her back up against the wall, massaging her temples like Edward had been earlier. She looked up at us, and Edward and I both looked at her apologetically.

"Um..." I began, and then stopped. Alice was glaring at us. "Sorry..." I muttered, and she stood up. I looked at the floor and made an effort to avoid her eyes. I didn't want to see the death glare she must have been shooting at us.

"I REALLY didn't want to see that!" she yelled.

"Alice, it was sort of your fault," Edward protested. Alice turned to glare at him, and we both realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"I don't care if it was my fault!" Alice yelled again. "I was coming upstairs to ask my new sister if she wanted to go shopping, and I see you two with your legs wrapped around each other and your arms all over the place. And Edward's shirt almost off!" She gave us both the death glare I had been avoiding. A moment later, I felt a wave of calm pass over me as Jasper walked up behind us. He looked questioningly at all of us, and sighed.

"I don't even want to know..." he muttered. He sent us another wave of calm, obviously noticing the extreme anger and frustration that we were still feeling.

"Ok, Alice, well you wanted to know if Bella wanted to go shopping. But how could you go anywhere when she's supposed to be dead? And what about humans—she was only changed a week ago." Edward said.

"Well, I was planning on going to Seattle, but I kinda forgot about the humans and..."

Alice stopped speaking suddenly as a blank look came onto her face, and looked as if she was staring off into space. She crumpled and began to fall to the ground, but Jasper caught her. After a moment, she shook her head and looked up at Jasper.

"Alice?" I asked.

"Forget about shopping. We have a new problem on our hands. We have visitors," she said as she stood up.

"Alice, what did you see?" Edward asked anxiously. She turned to look at us, and I saw the pure horror on her pixie-like face.

"Wolves."


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! Chapter 2! And don't forget to review...the more reviews I get, the quicker I update!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Again...huge thank you to **_**mytypeofheroin**_

**Chapter 2**

"W...w...wol...wolves...?" I stuttered. I started to feel faint. I looked over at Edward, and he, sensing my discomfort, wrapped his arms around me and whispered nonsense, unhelpful words in my ear such as "it's ok," and "everything will be fine."

"Alice, exactly what did you see?" Jasper asked.

"That's the thing," Alice said. "I saw nothing! All the sudden, our futures all just disappeared! And the only reason I know that his means wolves is because I remember when Bella jumped off the cliff," I winced as I remembered all the trouble that started from that event, "I couldn't see her being pulled out by Jacob Black."

"So, until they leave, we're going to be blind..." Jasper murmured. Alice nodded, and Edward cringed.

"We have to go call Carlisle at work and warn him about this," Edward said. Alice nodded in agreement, and Edward began to unwrap his arms from around me.

"No..." I moaned. "Don't go..." He looked at me with a pained look on his face.

"Bella..." he muttered. I whimpered, and he sighed. He lifted me up and held me close to his body, and took me with him as he ran down the stairs of the house. Alice was close on our heels as we entered the kitchen, and Edward set me down gently as he reached for the phone. Esme and Rosalie entered the kitchen, and looked at us all with puzzled faces. Alice took them into the other room and told them about our futures disappearing, while Edward dialed Carlisle's cell phone number. I hobbled over to the nearest chair and sunk down in it. I rested my elbows on my knees, and rested my face on my hands. I tried to not hyperventilate. Just breathe, I told myself. But how could I not be anxious and nervous? The wolves were coming here! Here, to the Cullens' house! And they would see that Edward and I are actually alive! Jake would probably tell Charlie and Renée or someone else that we weren't actually dead, and then there would be tons of questions, and attention drawn to the whole incident. This whole situation was just a mess.

I heard Edward kneel down beside me, and I lifted my head out of my hands. _Carlisle is coming home from the hospital,_ he thought to me as he put a comforting hand on my back. _He told me that we should go and hide in the place where we made you hide from Victoria._ I nodded, and he helped me up. Alice came back into the kitchen, and Edward told her what the plan was. But I didn't really hear him. I was in a daze. I felt Edward tug on my hand, but I couldn't move. I heard him sigh, and then felt him lift me into his arms. He carried me into the closet and shut the door. Then he somehow managed to get the key, move the shelf, and unlock and open the door behind it, while still holding me. He gently sat me down on the bed, and then walked over to move the shelf back and close the door. Then he returned to me, sat down on the bed, and pulled me into his lap. I leaned back against him and closed my eyes, trying to be calm.

"Bella...shhh...it's ok," he said. I realized that my deep breaths must be louder than I thought.

"It...is...not...o...kay..." I gasped. He wrapped his arms around me and rocked me back and forth.

"Bella, what's wrong? What are you so worried about? The worse that can happen is Jake can find out that we're still alive, which won't really matter since we're moving again in a few days. And who would believe him if he told anybody, anyway?"

I looked up at him. What he said wasn't helpful. He leaned down and planted a light kiss on my lips, and then rested his head on my shoulder. "Everything is ok," he whispered into my ear.

I didn't quite know why I was so upset about this. As Edward said, even if Jake did find out and told somebody, they would never believe him. And he probably wouldn't find us anyway. So, the reason I was so worked up about the wolves coming here, I didn't know.

"Everything will work out," he murmured. I pulled my legs up to my stomach and leaned forward to rest my face on my knees. Edward put his hand on my back and rubbed it gently.

"How can you be sure," I asked a while later, as I looked up at him. He looked confused for a moment, and then realized what I was talking about. He wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me down so we were both lying on the bed on our sides, facing each other. He reached out and for my hand, and I began to trace circles on the back of his hand. After a few moments, he spoke again.

"Bella, Carlisle has a plan. And Carlisle's plans usually work."

"Usually." I pointed out the key word. He sighed, and reached out to put his hand on my cheek. He rubbed it with his thumb, and then he pulled away.

"Remember when Charlie shot me, and Carlisle thought up the plan to make it look like you were robbed?" he said. I nodded slowly. "Well, I, personally, would've never in a million years thought that plan would've worked. But it did. Even Carlisle's craziest plans seem to work."

I thought for a moment. He did have a point. Carlisle's plans always seemed to work.

"I guess you're right," I said.

"Of course I am. I'm always right," he said. "And so is Alice." That settled it. If Alice had a vision of everything turning out ok, then it would. He smiled the crooked smile that I loved. But something about it didn't seem right. I realized that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

That meant that something was wrong.

"Edward...what's wrong?" I asked him. He looked away from me. "Everything _is_ going to work out, isn't it?" I asked, feeling worried. Would he lie to me? His eyes met mine a moment later.

"Yes, everything is going to work out," he finally said. I sighed, relieved, and smiled.

That's when I heard the loud knock on the door. I could tell from only the knock, that the person knocking was angry. Very angry.

I looked over at Edward with a panicked look on my face. He gave me an apologetic look, and then thought to me, _Just, it might take a while for things to work out. _

I stared at him. _What do you mean?_ _Was the whole "everything is fine" bit just a charade to make me not worry?_

_No, Bella, it's not that. Everything will work out. In the end. _

I glared at him. _But until the end..._

_Um...things might not be so good..._he admitted. I continued glaring at him, expecting more of an answer. _Ok, well, Alice had a vision, right? After the wolves all left, obviously. The wolves had found us, but, everything was ok. We weren't racing to pack bags so we could get away, or anything like that. Everything will turn out okay._

"They find us!?" I squeaked. After I said it, I put my hand over my mouth. Edward froze and looked at me with his eyes wide.

_Don't...say...anything,_ he warned. I nodded, my eyes just as wide. Edward held his breath so as not to make as much noise, and I followed his example. Even though I was scared stiff, I still couldn't help but marvel at how I didn't need to take a breath. A moment later I heard the door open, and a friendly voice that I recognized greeted the person, or people, at the door.

_Carlisle's home..._ Edward thought to me. I was tempted to make a comment back at him, like "I heard him. I'm not stupid," or, "Thanks, Captain Obvious," but I decided against it.

Then I heard the yelling.

**Alice's POV**

Right as there was a knock on the door, Carlisle rushed into the house from the back. I realized that he must've used the back door so the wolves didn't notice him. He hurried to the front door and opened it. I was surprised to only see one wolf at the door. I never thought that one of the wolves would come alone.

"Where is she!?" the wolf snarled. I recognized him to be Jacob Black—the wolf Bella had befriended after we left last fall. He tried to walk into the house, but Carlisle stepped in his way.

"I'm sorry, but I am not going to allow you into my house when you are in such a state," Carlisle said coolly, obviously referring to how angry Jacob was. Jacob gave Carlisle a livid glare, and then pushed him violently out of his way. Carlisle fell to the floor, and Esme gave a small shriek. She ran over to Carlisle's side, but Carlisle was on his feet again quickly, with a look of astonishment at Jacob's behavior on his face. Esme put her hand on Carlisle's shoulder, and Carlisle turned to her. "I'm alright," he muttered quietly to her. I turned from Carlisle and Esme to look at Jacob. There were waves rippling through his entire body, and he looked positively vicious. Then Carlisle walked back over to Jacob, and positioned himself so he was standing right in front of him.

"As I said before, you are not allowed in this house when you are in the state that you are," he said again, with much more authority this time. Jacob sneered at him.

"And who's gonna stop me?" he asked. Emmett stood up from the couch and was at Carlisle's side in a second.

"That would be me," he said in a powerful voice. I thought I saw fear flicker across Jacob's face for a moment, but a second later it was gone, and his angry mask was back again. He looked Emmett up and down, and I heard him mutter "I can take you." I could tell that he didn't want Emmett to hear, but he did. We all did.

Emmett chuckled once without humor. "I bet you could," he replied sarcastically. Jacob glared back at Emmett. "But, unfortunately, you're not going to be around to find out." And with that, Emmett hoisted Jacob up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder. He ran outside before Jacob could even blink, and threw Jacob on the ground. Rosalie, Jasper and I all stood up, and raced outside, lead by Carlisle and Esme. "Don't you dare harm my family again," Emmett growled through clenched teeth as he looked down at Jacob. There was a half-second pause, and then the chaos began as many things happened very quickly.

"No!" Carlisle yelled.

Jacob stood up, and more shivers ran through his body. A moment later, there was a large, rusty brown wolf where he had stood a second earlier.

Emmett was thrown across the yard as one of Jacob's paws made contact with his body.

Rosalie ran across the yard, and was at Emmett's side, comforting him.

Jasper glanced at Emmett and Rosalie, and barred his teeth as he began to charge at Jacob.

Carlisle was in front of Jasper in a second, blocking his way so he couldn't attack Jacob.

Esme was sitting on the ground, with her arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth and looking as if she could be crying if she could, as she watched the battle play out in front of her.

And then it felt as if darkness had closed around me, and I felt like a large hand was tightening around me, putting pressure on every inch of my body. I embraced the darkness and the pressure, and tried to focus on the picture that I could faintly see appearing in front of me. It grew brighter and better focused, and I saw that it was Bella lying on the ground (it looked like she was in the dining room), with Jacob kneeling next to her. Edward was nowhere to be seen. I saw Bella's face, and saw that it looked pained, like she would have been crying if she was able to. Jacob's face also looked pained, but more like he was worried, rather than upset.

I felt the pressure becoming less strong, and the darkness lifting from around me, as I snapped out of my vision. When I fully regained my sight I noticed that I was lying on the ground, and realized I must've fallen during my vision. I quickly picked myself up from off the ground and looked around at the rest of my family. I saw Rosalie was still comforting Emmett, and Esme still looked shaken by the events that had just taken place. I saw that Jasper was standing near Jacob, and I felt waves of calm crash into me. Then I saw Carlisle standing in front of Jacob, who was still in his wolf form, and Carlisle was yelling to him.

"Jacob! Please, calm down. This is no way to settle anything!"

A moment later, Jacob shrunk back to his normal size, and I could see that the only clothes that he was wearing a pair of dark blue shorts.

I saw Jacob fall to the ground as he lost his fur and sharp claws, as soon as he was entirely human again, he stood up. He strode over to Carlisle and looked him right in the eye. Jacob towered over Carlisle by a few inches, and I didn't want to think about how much Jacob would tower over me if we were to stand side by side.

"I'm tired of this," Jacob snarled. "Where is she? I know she's here, so don't give me any of that 'she's dead' crap. I recognized her scent the second I walked into your house. I know she's here. Where. Is. She."

Carlisle sighed as he broke eye contact with Jacob to stare at the ground. "Jacob Black, I know you don't want to believe this, but she really is dead." I thought Carlisle's words seemed pretty believable, but apparent Jacob thought otherwise, for he gave a small un-humorous chuckle.

"I'm not stupid," he said to Carlisle as he glared down at him, trying to look as menacing as possible. "I know she turned into a filthy bloodsucker like you. I know she's alive. And I know your pathetic bloodsucker of a son is still alive too."

"Jacob…" Carlisle began, but Jacob cut him off.

"Show me where she is," he growled. I thought it was time for me to intervene. I walked over to where Carlisle and Jacob were standing. I stood next to Carlisle, and turned to face Jacob.

"Jacob…she's…she's really d…dead," I whispered, trying to be it as convincing as possible. I didn't fully understand why Carlisle didn't just give up the act since Jacob knew we were lying, but if Carlisle didn't want him to know the truth, then neither did I.

"You're lying," Jacob sneered down at me. He leaned down and carefully sniffed my shoulder. "I can smell her scent on you, leech." Jasper was standing in front of me a second later, trying to hide me from Jacob's view.

"Don't you dare insult my wife," he warned, "dog," he added, trying to get back with another insult. Jacob chuckled again, in the same way as before.

"I'll insult whomever I please, leech," he said, looking menacing this time. Jasper looked up at Jacob (for Jacob was also a couple inches taller than Jasper) and let out a low growl. He barred his teeth, but I grabbed him and turned him to face me before he could do anything stupid.

"Jasper, I'm fine," I promised him. I stepped around him and looked up into Jacob's face. I was right to think that he would tower above me—he was more than a foot and a half taller than me. I stared into his eyes and said it again. "Jacob…she's not here. She's gone. She's dead."

"No, she's not," he insisted. I glanced helplessly at Carlisle, who nodded. I took it to say that I should continue my efforts to make him believe Bella was dead. I stared back at Jacob, and saw that his menacing mask had dropped. I gave him a questioning look, and he tried to compose his face again, unsuccessfully.

"What?" I asked, surprised by his change in moods. He was looking down at the ground and his new expression was one of sadness; it looked like he was reminiscing.

"I just…I just don't understand," he muttered.

"Don't understand what?" I pressed gently. He looked back at me and met my eyes.

"Look," he sighed, "I know she's alive. I know you know she's alive. I know you know I know she's alive." He lost me for a moment, but then I caught back up to him. "Just, let me talk to her. I swear I won't tell anybody that I know that she's alive. It's just…I know I'm never going to see her again after this, and…I want to see her once more. She's…she's my best friend. I just want her to know…" he trailed off, his face suddenly looking even sadder than before. He looked away from me and I thought I saw his eyes glittery and wet with tears that he refused to let drop. My non-beating heart fell as I saw the pain he was in. I looked back over at Carlisle and he sighed. He mouthed "fine" to me.

I glanced back into the house and thought something to Edward. _I'm sure you heard this whole conversation, Edward. He really wants to talk to Bella. And I don't think it's for violent reasons. If Bella wants to talk to him, then you guys should come out here. _

No more than five seconds later, Bella was at my side, and Edward was standing back a few feet from her.

"Jake…" Bella sighed. He whipped his head around and his eyes lit up when he saw her. She took a step forward and opened her arms as if to hug him, but he stepped back from her. She gave him a questioning look, and I realized that she was holding her breath. Now she could tell how awful wolves really smell.

"I don't think it would be very smart if I were to hug you, Bells," he said. I thought I saw Edward's face get angry when he called her "Bells." I wondered how Bella was able to convince Edward to let her talk to Jacob. "Werewolf, vampire, you know…" Jacob continued. He gave weak smile.

"Right," Bella croaked, with pain visible in her voice.

"I think it may be smart if we continue this discussion inside," Carlisle suggested quietly. Bella nodded, and as she turned back around so I could see her face, I could tell she was very sad.

"Bella," I whispered to her comfortingly. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a small squeeze, and then let go as I ran inside after Jasper.

**Bella's POV**

I followed Alice into the house. Edward walked next to me with his arm wrapped around my waist. I thought I heard Jake give a small growl of disapproval when he saw this, but I ignored it.

_Bella, do you really want to do this?_ Edward asked to me as we were walking into the house. I glanced at him.

_You promised you would let me talk to him without you interfering,_ I reminded him. He sighed.

_I know. But that doesn't mean I have to like it._ Now it was my turn to sigh.

As we entered the Cullen house, I looked over to the left and saw Rosalie sitting down on the Cullen's couch. As I walked closer, I saw Emmett's head lying on her lap, and she was stroking his curly brown hair tenderly. Carlisle was standing over him, applying some sort of medicine on a white piece of gauze to a cut on Emmett's torso. I looked back at Jake, realizing how it must've happened, and saw that he looked very ashamed of himself. "Sorry about that…" he whispered to Emmett as we passed by him. Emmett let out a low growl, but Carlisle silenced him with one swift look at him. Emmett sighed, and nodded at Jake.

Edward, Jacob, and I continued to walk through the living room, and walked through the door to the kitchen. Edward continued to walk through the kitchen to the dining room, but I stopped and turned to Jake. "Do you want anything to eat or drink? I'm sure the Cullen's have something in here," I said as I opened the cupboard nearest to me. Inside was a jar of peanut butter, two apples, and muffin mix. I looked over at Jake and said, "Uh, maybe in _this_ cupboard." I opened the one next to it, and inside saw a loaf of bread, a bag of potatoes, and a stack of plates. I grabbed the loaf of bread, then reached into the other cupboard and grabbed the jar of peanut butter. "You can have a peanut butter sandwich," I said, holding up the bread and peanut butter. He chuckled and shook his head.

"No thanks. I ate before I came." I motioned for him to follow me into the dining room, and sat down next to Edward. Jake sat down on the other side of the table, at the chair directly opposite mine. I glanced over at Edward, and saw he was glaring at Jake.

"So, Jacob," he said. I sighed and leaned down so my head was resting on the table. I knew he was going to interfere and say something obnoxious, but he didn't continue talking. "What?" he hissed to me. I lifted my head off the table. "What did I do?"

_Please don't say anything that will make Jacob angry, _I begged.

_I wasn't going to!_ he insisted. I held my breath, readying myself for his comment. "Jacob, I'm surprised that the rest of your pack allowed you to come here," he continued. I slowly exhaled, happy that he didn't say anything too obnoxious.

Jake looked down at the floor, obviously embarrassed. "They…don't…know that I'm here…" he said as he looked up at me. I gave him a disbelieving look.

"You mean to say that you tricked the rest of the pack?" I asked. "How were you able to do that? You guys have your freakish mind reading thing!"

I looked over at Edward, and couldn't read his expression. _Freakish mind reading thing?_ he thought to me. _I didn't know you thought mind reading was "freakish." _I looked back at him, stunned at what I said.

_Edward…I didn't mean…_ I stammered. This was exactly what I was afraid of—that Edward would get angry because of Jacob, or Jacob would get angry because of Edward.

_We'll talk about it later,_ he thought coolly. I sighed as I turned back around to look at Jacob. He looked at me questioningly for a moment, then shrugged.

"Yes, I did trick the pack," he replied.

"How?" I asked, but I realized that I didn't sound as interested anymore. I was too worried about what Edward would say.

"Well, uh, Paul actually figured out what I was planning on doing…" he said.

"How did you keep Paul quiet?" I asked him, becoming a bit more interested now.

"Well…I kinda had to…you know…uh…fihmshddntell…"

"What?" The last words he said were all a jumble. I realized that he didn't want me to know what he said.

"I had to…uh…" he stuttered.

"Oh, just tell me, Jacob," I said, becoming a bit annoyed.

"Fight him so he didn't tell…" he finally said. I stared at him, stunned for a few seconds. I tried to imagine Paul cornering Jacob and asking him about his plan to talk to me, and Jacob phasing and fighting Paul. And then I remembered when Jake and Paul had fought a few months ago, right after I figured out that Jacob was a werewolf. The scene when I first saw Jacob as a wolf played over in my head.

"_Jacob!" I screamed. _

_Mid-stride, a long tremor shivered down Jacob's spine. He leaped forward, diving headfirst into the empty air._

_With another sharp tearing sound, Jacob exploded, too. He burst out of his skin—shreds of black and white cloth blasted up into the air. It happened so quickly that if I'd blinked, I'd have missed the entire transformation. One second it was Jacob diving into the air, and then it was the gigantic, russet brown wolf—so enormous that I couldn't make sense of its mass somehow fitting inside Jacob—charging the crouched silver beast._

_Jacob met the other werewolf's attack head-on. Their angry snarls echoed like thunder off the trees. _

_The black and white scraps—the remains of Jacob's clothes—fluttered to the ground where he'd disappeared._

"_Jacob!" I screamed again, staggering forward._

"_Stay where you are, Bella," Sam ordered. It was hard to hear him over the roar of the fighting wolves. They were snapping and tearing at each other, their sharp teeth flashing toward each other's throats. _

Then I remembered the other boys' reaction to this incident. It had been so different from mine.

_One of the boys started laughing._

_I turned to stare at him—my wide eyes felt frozen, like I couldn't even blink them._

_The boy seemed to be laughing at my expression. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," he snickered. His face was vaguely familiar—thinner than the others...Embry Call._

"_I do," the other boy, Jared, grumbled. "Every single day."_

"_Aw, Paul doesn't lose his temper _every_ day," Embry disagreed, still grinning. "Maybe two out of three."_

I couldn't help it. I began to laugh as I remembered. I turned to look at Jacob, and he gave me a confused look. "I was...remembering...when I first saw...you phase," I said through fits of laughter. "And what...Jared and Embry...said about...Paul's temper." Jacob's expression changed, and he began to grin.

"What's so funny about that?" he asked, though he wasn't doing a very good job at suppressing his laughter either. Embry and Jared must've talked about Paul's temper often, if Jacob thought it was as funny as I did. Then he began to laugh right along with me.

I turned to look over at Edward, and saw his confused expression. _I don't see what's so funny about it either,_ he said, disapproval clear in his thoughts.

_That's because you don't know Paul, Embry, and Jared,_ I thought. I stopped laughing as I saw Edwards's expression—he looked angry and even a bit...jealous...? I turned back to Jacob, and saw that his laughter was dying down too. He looked back and forth from Edward to me. He looked a bit embarrassed, and he sighed.

"Um, right. So, uh, Paul. Right. Well, uh, I fought him, and uh, he said he, uh, wouldn't tell, uh...um...Sam." I looked over at Edward, and saw that he was glaring at Jacob.

_Edward! Stop making him feel uncomfortable!_ I scolded him. He looked away from Jacob, and our eyes met.

_I'm not doing anything of the sort,_ he thought.

_Edward, please don't._ He sighed.

_Here, I have a better idea. I'll just leave._ He let go of my hand, which he had entwined with my under the table, and stood up."Jacob, I have some other business to attend to. I'll let you and Bella talk alone."

"Edward," I protested. He gave me a sharp glare.

_I'll talk to you later._ Then he was gone.

I turned to look at Jacob. He wasn't looking at me; he was staring at the table. "Why did you do it, Bella?" he asked. He looked up, and his eyes met mine. I gave him a questioning look. "Why did you decide to let him change you?" he clarified.

"Well, it was actually Victori—" I started, but he cut me off.

"Yes, it was that redhead that actually bit you. I know. But, you still would've let him change you later. I don't understand why you would want that," he said. I saw the sadness in his eyes, and I had to look away.

"I love him..." I said. I looked back at Jacob.

"Ya, you guys sure seem to be getting along well," he sneered. I looked away again.

He sighed. "Bella, I'm sorry. I...I just don't understand. You lost so many others that you love."

"Well...I...I mean..." I couldn't think of anything to say.

"What about Charlie, Bella? You have no idea how upset he has been. My dad and I have gone up to visit him every few days to make sure he's eating. He's not _eating_, Bella. Whenever we go over there, he's always sitting or lying on the couch. He barely even notices that we're there. We bring him some food, and he takes maybe, two or three bites of it. My dad and I have had to feed the rest to him."

I looked up and met his eyes. "Charlie..." was all I could manage to say.

"And what about Renée? Your step dad, Phil, came up here to be with her. They're staying at your house with Charlie. But Renée doesn't do much more than Charlie does. And both of them, their eyes are always red and bloodshot. I don't think either of them have slept in a week. Phil told me that he wakes up to Renée crying, or Charlie wandering around the house aimlessly. It's almost like, like he's looking for you."

Hearing this information about my parents made my heart sink clear down to my ankles. I looked away from Jacob, and imagined Charlie sitting on the couch, with bloodshot eyes, and his face puffy and red. Taking one small bite of whatever food Jake and Billy made for him, and then staring off into space again. Billy grabbing the fork and picking up some of the food, and forcing it into Charlie's mouth. Renée coming downstairs with Phil, crying, and sinking down to the floor. Phil helping her up, and carrying her over to the chair next to the fireplace. Renée looking up at the pictures of me on the fireplace mantel, and crying again.

Without really knowing it, I fell off my chair and onto the dining room floor.

Charlie turning to look over at Renée, but not saying a word or making any sign that he acknowledges that she's in pain. Charlie turning back to look at the TV, and then staring off into space again. Billy taking another forkful of food, and forcing it into Charlie's mouth again.

Jacob quickly got up from the chair he was sitting in, and hurried around the table to me. He knelt down on the ground next to me, and reached out his hand to me. He pulled it back before he touched me, unsure of what to do.

"Bella?" he asked softly.

"Jake..." I whimpered. "Jake, I'm so so sorry."

"No, Bella..." he whispered. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Jake...I'm so sorry," I repeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Bella..." he said again. He looked helpless, like he had no idea what to do.

"I love them, Jake," I said. "I love them so much. I hurt them. I hurt everyone."

"No, Bella..." he whispered again.

"Why couldn't I just...I didn't want to...I wish I..." I stopped suddenly, and changed the subject completely as I remembered something that I had wanted to say to him. "Jake...?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Thanks," I said.

"For what?" He looked very confused.

"For being there for me last January and February when, well, you know...I realized that I never really told you how grateful I am for that. Without you, who knows what I would've been like." And when I said those words, I felt like a whole load of pain was lifted off my chest. "So, thanks, Jake." I smiled at him.

He smiled. He helped me stand up. He cautiously opened his arms, and then pulled me into a hug.

"I love you, Jake," I croaked. I gently wrapped my arms around him, savoring the warmth I got from him. He still felt like a big teddy bear. I was tempted to hold him tighter, but I knew if I did, he would probably attack me out of instinct.

"I love you too, Bells." How long I had waited to hear those words. I remembered something that I promised myself last month.

_I knew that last glimpse of his face would haunt me until I saw him smile again._

_And right there I vowed that I _would_ see him smile, and soon. I would find a way to keep my friend._

I had finally seen him smile again. Even better—I had heard the words that I knew would make everything okay between us.

We broke apart a second later. "I don't like how you feel anymore, Bells," he said as he studied me. "You're hard, like a rock." I gave him a half smile, and he chuckled.

"Will you do something for me, Jake?" I asked him. He gave me a questioning look, then nodded.

"Anything."

I smiled at him. "Tell them that I love them."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! How exciting. Sorry it took so long. The next one _might_ be quicker. I'm not really sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Chapter 3**

Jacob and I talked for a bit longer. We moved on to talking about happier subjects, and tried not to talk about leaving, because we knew it would only bring tears.

But, after half an hour, the subject could no longer be avoided.

"Bella..." Jacob said, and I saw that his face was suddenly full of sadness. "I...I think I have to go..."

I looked away from his gaze. "Do...do you have to?" I asked. I didn't want him to leave. We both knew that this would be the last time we would see each other for a while. He slowly nodded, and I sighed. I looked up at him again, and frowned. His expression was not what I expected. He looked like he was contemplating something.

"Bella...I...I just want to tell you something before I leave," he whispered. I nodded for him to continue. "I just need you to know something. I need you to know how I feel. And I know that no matter what I say, things won't change. But, I just need you to know..."

And I knew where this was going. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to hear what he was going to say.

He smiled at me, suddenly very sure of himself. "I love you, Bella. I'm in love with you. And I'm pretty sure that you know that." And I realized then that I did know it. When Edward was gone, he was here. And he had fallen in love with me. And I realized that I had fallen in love with him, too. Not enough for it to change anything, but just enough to make it hurt me even more. "I know that even if you were in love with me, too, nothing would change," he continued. "But I just wanted you to know before you had to leave..."

All I could do was nod. I didn't say anything, and I don't think he expected me to.

We hugged once more, and he sighed. He said in an impolite tone, "Bella, I think there's something wrong with you."

I broke apart from him, and gave him a questioning look. I hadn't expected something so rude coming out of his mouth after he had said such kind words. "What?" I asked.

"When I'm around you...it's weird. It's like...you don't smell that bad to me. You just smell like Bella. And I didn't have an instinct to kill you when I first saw you like I did with some of the other bloodsuckers." I glared at him. "I mean...other Cullens."

I thought about what he was saying. I realized that, I too, had no real instinct to kill him. And I hadn't smelled the awful scent that I had been told came from werewolves. He still just smelled like Jake—with his warm, musty, woodsy scent.

"I know what you mean..." I said slowly, thinking. And then it hit me. "I think...I think that may be another part of my power..." I said, and it all made sense.

Jake's face brightened. "Like the future-telling leech—uh—"girl"...and how your boyfriend can read minds?" I nodded in response, and his grin became more pronounced.

"I can be around you without having the instinct to kill you..." I whispered in awe. It made sense—you take with you into your new life as a vampire your strongest human traits. Edward had meant the most to me as I was being changed, but Jacob was still a big part of my life.

So now I could talk to Edward with my mind, and I could be around Jacob without wanting to kill him.

"Amazing," he said in awe. I nodded. And he reached out cautiously and hugged me, and I hugged him back tightly. Not as tight as to hurt him, and I knew I now could, but tight enough.

"Is this goodbye, Jake?" I whispered into his ear.

"I don't want it to be," he whispered back. We broke out of our embrace, but kept our hands entwined.

"I'll miss you," I said.

"I'll miss you too," he replied. "I'll think of you every single day." I didn't know what to say to that.

"Am I allowed to try and find you someday?" I asked. I wasn't sure if he would still want to see me.

He nodded. "Whenever you think of me, just give me a call. I shouldn't be that hard to reach—I'll probably be at La Push for a while still. The Quileutes still need their protectors," he said with a grin, mocking the word used to describe his pack. "And you can always have someone call Billy—he'll always know where I am."

We both knew that this was goodbye—there was not much more that could be said.

He slowly leaned his face towards mine. I breathed in scent as I often did with Edward. Jacob moved his face so our lips were only inches apart, and then our lips touched carefully. The kiss did not last longer than a fraction of a second, but the feel of his lips lingered on mine for minutes afterward.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered, tears lightly falling from his eyes, making his face sparkle in the light like Edward's skin so often did.

"I love you too, Jake," I whispered.

"I know that better than you do," he murmured, more to himself than to me.

I walked with him out of the kitchen and to the front door. I knew that the rest of the Cullens were watching us, but I didn't care. I felt like it was only Jake and I in the room.

We hugged one last time, and I held onto his hand after we broke apart. He walked away from me, towards the door, with his eyes still boring into mine. I held onto his hand until the last possible moment, when I let go and let my arm fall to my side.

He closed the white front door behind him, and he was gone.

☼►☼►☼

I sat on the black leather couch in Edward's room alone for a while. I twisted my wedding ring around my finger, something I did often when I was thinking. I was going to miss Jake—my own personal sun. And it hurt even more knowing that I did love him like he loved me. But I knew I had made the right choice—I knew I couldn't live without Edward. I had already tried once, and my life had become a miserable, pointless black hole.

Edward entered the room a bit later, and sat down next to me on the couch. He didn't put his arm around me, or grab my hand. We just sat, in complete silence.

Me, still twisting my wedding ring.

_I'm sorry_, we both thought at the same time.

_Me first?_ He asked. I nodded, and I was surprised to hear his voice instead of his thoughts. "I'm sorry I was so stupid and insensitive. I knew—I do know—that Jacob is a touchy topic for you. I said things that may have made Jacob angry with me, or even angry with you. That wasn't my intent at all. As much as it pains me to admit it, I was, and am, a bit jealous of Jacob. I know how much he means to you. And I'm sorry that I overreacted."

I was touched by his apology. I had expected something more along the lines of "Sorry I was rude to that mutt," but what he said was sincere, kind, and not something said just so we would make up. He was truly sorry. Always a gentleman.

"My turn now," I said. I knew I could never make my apology sound as polite and proper as his, but I tried my best. "I'm sorry I almost flaunted my relationship with Jacob and shoved it in your face. I didn't realize that I was doing it until later, and I know I really upset you. I didn't mean to. And I'm sorry I overreacted to you talking to Jacob. I was just so...so scared that you would say something to upset Jake or he would say something to upset you, and you and Jake would get in a huge fight. And I don't want that. I love you both, and I don't want either of you to get hurt because of me. So...I'm sorry I made things difficult for you."

He reached over for my hand, and entwined our fingers together. He scooted over towards me on the couch, and with his free hand, pulled me closer to him. He lightly kissed me on the lips, and I knew that all was forgiven.

And tonight was my funeral. The rest of the Cullen family would be out for a couple hours, leaving Edward and I alone in the house.

I could only begin to imagine the possibilities.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Chapter 4**

I lay on my side, watching the sky turn pink as the sun slowly rose over the tree tops in our meadow. This was one of my favorite things about being a vampire—the fact that I was awake all night, so I never missed a sunrise. It truly was a beautiful thing.

Edward, who was also lying on his side, wrapped his arms around my torso and began to kiss my shoulder softly. I laid my hand over his and rubbed small circles on the back of his hand with my thumb. I continued to stare at the pale pink sky and remembered something that Renée used to say. She always told me that when the sky was pink like this, that it meant that "Santa was baking cookies." I couldn't help but smile to myself as I remembered Renée and the funny little things that she used to tell me.

Edward sighed and I turned over to face him. He scrutinized my face carefully. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"I guess not. I mean, I understand your reasons for not wanting to. But I still think that you're bizarrely moral for a vampire." He chuckled to himself.

Last night had been the night of my funeral. I had been very excited for having some time alone with Edward, and thought I knew exactly what was going to happen last night. Turns out that I was wrong, and that there were many things that I didn't know about Edward.

Like the fact that he had lots of moral views that he stuck to. The thought still stunned me. A moral vampire. That's something that you wouldn't expect to hear. I could understand why we couldn't do anything "dangerous" while I was still human, but now I was a vampire. It wasn't like he could break me anymore. That's why I was so stunned when he told me no.

"Not until after we're married," he had said. I laughed at that. After we're married, my foot. I laughed even harder when I realized that he was serious.

"But you do understand why I had to say no?" Edward asked me again now. I sighed.

"I suppose."

"Good. Because I wouldn't want you to be mad at me." He kissed my forehead and I grinned.

"One thing is for sure, though," I said.

"And whats that?" he asked curiously.

"Eight days from now, things are going to get very interesting," I said with a mischievous grin on my face. Edward sighed and shook his head, but I could see the excited look in his eyes that he tried to hide from me. I marveled in the fact that someone as perfect as him could want someone as plain as me.

Eight days. Wow. I had been counting down the days to my wedding for quite some time now. I was overjoyed to be in the single-digit numbers. Only eight days until I because "Mrs. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen." I was impossibly lucky.

Edward looked over my head and up at the sky and the sunrise. "We have to leave soon," he said.

I shook my head. "No we don't. Not really." I snuggled back in closer to his chest. "We could stay here all day if we wanted to. Just you and me...alone all day..." I grinned at him, but he did not smile back. Instead he seemed hesitant, and that surprised me. I looked into his eyes and instead of the excited look I had seen a second ago, I saw sadness.

"Edward...what's wrong?" I asked slowly. He looked away from me. I put my hand beneath his chin and turned is face so he could look at me. "Edward..." I said again.

He sighed and said, "It's just...I heard Alice thinking...and...well...something happened last night. At our funeral. Something...something not so good." My eyes widened.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked urgently. He shifted his body so he was sitting up, and pulled me into his lap. He kissed the back of my head and laced his fingers with mine. I smiled to myself momentarily as I realized that I still got that "electric shock" from touching him that I had when I first met him.

"Well, um, it's the wolves, actually," he continued. I froze, something I had picked up from him. "No, don't worry," he said quickly. "It's not a huge problem. Well, it is, but it's a problem that is completely avoidable." I frowned at him, confused as ever. He explained, "Well, I guess Sam found out that Jacob had visited us. And Sam, of course, is still very upset about us being here, especially since you're one of us now. So Sam told Jacob to tell us that we have to leave. Soon. Or else the treaty is off," he finished. I was stunned.

"But...but...that's...that's not fair!" I stuttered. "He has no right to do that! You guys haven't done anything that violates the treaty! _You _didn't bite me, and neither did anyone one else in your family! He has no right to make us leave!"

Edward winced at my outburst. "Actually, he does. I know it doesn't seem fair, but since he is the leader of the pack, that also sort of makes him the leader of the Quileute tribe. And, as leader of the tribe, he has the right to call the treaty off."

I was stunned again. "But...that just doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem _fair_."

"I know. But he does have the right to do that. So, because of his request, or demand, rather, we're going to be leaving sooner than we previously anticipated."

I flinched. I was already feeling at a loss for time, and now I learned that I would have even less time to make my final goodbyes? Of course, I couldn't _actually_ say goodbye to anyone, but I wanted some final looks at people before I had to leave. And now I would hardly even have that. "How soon is 'sooner'?" I asked.

"Um..." he seemed unwilling to answer. "Well...we'll have to leave...tomorrow..."

I stared at him, not believing what he had said. Tomorrow? "Edward...I can't do that. I...I just can't do that! I have to...to pack all my stuff...I have to...say goodbye...I have to...I have to..." I trailed off, realizing exactly how much I had to do. I never really wrapped my mind around the fact that I would have to leave Forks, and basically never come back. Now that I did, it became very clear to me how much I would have to leave behind.

I already knew that I would have to leave my family and friends, so I was slightly prepared for that. I had already thought about the fact that I would never be able to talk to Charlie or Renée again, or see Jake, or Angela, or anybody. But I still felt a pang of sadness in my still heart as I thought about leaving them.

And now I realized exactly how much _stuff_ I would be leaving behind. It seemed like a weird thing to think about, but it actually hurt me a lot to know that all of my things would remain here, in Forks, either collecting dust in my room, or sitting in storage somewhere. I thought about all my clothes, things that I never thought I would miss, but now realized that I would. What about the blue shirt that Edward had complimented me on when I first met his family? What about my holey pajamas that I had worn to bed almost every night?

I realized that I was breathing quickly and feeling dizzy. I hadn't thought that I would be this affected by leaving things behind. And I wasn't even leaving yet.

And then I thought about all my books that I had never felt the need to replace. My old, worn copy of _Wuthering Heights_ that Edward had made fun ofMy multiple copies of _Romeo and Juliet_. I just had so many books. And I knew that I could always get new copies, but it just wouldn't be the same. As I thought about it, it was almost like my house caught on fire and everything that I owned was burned up, and that everyone I knew died. And now I have to start over with a totally new life.

My breathing was still quick, but then I suddenly stopped breathing altogether as Edward pulled me close to him, trying to comfort me. "Shhhh, Bella. Shhhh. It's alright. Everything is alright."

Ok, so not everyone would be "killed by this fire." I would still have Edward. And that would be what make all the difference. I leaned my head on Edward's shoulder and stroked my head comfortingly.

"All...my...stuff..." I whispered, calming down a bit. "And...and Charlie...Jake...Angela...I'm never going to see them again." Edward didn't say anything for a while, but continued to stroke my hair. Neither of us really knew what _could_ be said.

When I finally calmed down, he asked me, "Is it ok if we go back to the house? We really do have a lot to do." I nodded. Edward helped me to my feet, and said, "Do you want to race?" He was trying to make me feel better, and for that I was grateful.

"Sure," I said, smiling slightly. We bounded off into the woods, and I easily ran in front of him. Because I was a newborn, I was much faster than Edward. I arrived at the house before him, and saw Alice come out the front door, carrying some boxes with "Alice" written on the side. My face fell. Alice set down her boxes and pranced over to me.

"Edward told you?" she asked. I nodded sadly. "There are some empty boxes upstairs," she said. "I would suggest you start packing. We want to leave tonight, so there is no chance of the wolves attacking." I nodded again, and ran up to Edward's room, and started to pack some of my clothes. Edward ran into the room a few minutes later, his hair messy and windblown.

"I beat you," I said playfully. He grinned.

"Yes, you did." He waltzed over to his wall of CDs and began to pack them into a box. I walked to the bedside table, and grabbed my pictures of Jacob, Charlie, and Renée. I reached for a box near the bedroom door, but realized that it was not empty. I looked into it curiously. I gasped when I saw what was inside it.

I pulled out my old, ragged copy of _Wuthering Heights_, my blue shirt that Edward had once complimented, and the scrapbook my mom had given me for my 18th birthday, filled with pictures from my old life. They had been sitting in my room since my death, collecting dust. So how did they get here?

"Edward..." I whispered. "How...?"

He was suddenly behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck gently. "You seemed so miserable earlier," he said. "I thought that maybe, these things would help. I ran by Charlie's house on the way back from the meadow and grabbed them from out of your room."

So that was why he had arrived back at the house so much later than me. I knew that I couldn't have been that much faster than Edward.

"Thank you, Edward," I whispered to him. What he had done really did help, and now I knew that I would always have these things to remind me of my human life. Even when my memories of my old life faded, I would now always be able to remember by looking at these things.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry my updates are so few and far between

**Sorry my updates are so few and far between. I've been quite busy with life, and Twilight fan fiction has not been high on my to-do list. Sorry again. **

**Oh and by the way, this is the last chapter before the epilogue. Ugh, you have no idea how glad I am to get this story over with.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Twilight**_**, **_**New Moon**_**, **_**Eclipse**_**, or the soon-to-be-released **_**Breaking Dawn**_**. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Chapter 5**

I knew I would be crying right now if I could. Instead, I was dry sobbing into Edward's shoulder, trying to erase the picture that would forever be in my mind.

I just went to see Charlie and Renée one last time. I knew that I never would be able to again, and I wanted to see them. I _needed_ to see them, even if they couldn't see me. I needed to know that they were okay. I had told Edward not to come with me, that it was something I needed to do alone. Alice had assured me that I wouldn't harm Charlie, Renée, or Phil, so I had no reason to worry.

I had only stood in the woods near my house, watching them, for a minute or so before I had completely broken down. Sobs shook my whole body, and I was so overwhelmed with grief that I couldn't even stand up. I sunk to the ground and curled up into a ball, not caring about the mud I was laying on, or the puddle my head had landed in. The sight I had just witnessed replayed over and over again behind my eyelids.

I could see Charlie sitting in a chair in the living room, his eyes wide open and bloodshot. The TV was on, and he stared at it without really seeing anything.

I saw Renée sitting on the couch in the living room, leaning against Phil as tears ran down her cheeks and she muttered to herself words that even I couldn't hear. Phil just had a blank stare on his face as he looked down at Renée.

_I had done this to them. It was all my fault. I had done this to them. _

Edward had showed up not even a minute later, thanks to Alice and her visions. "Bella," he had whispered, and I could hear the pain in his voice. He knelt down next to me, and picked me up with ease. He cradled me in his arms, but said nothing more as I continued to dry sob. He walked at a human pace back to our house, so as to give me time to collect myself.  
When we got there, he sat down in his silver Volvo, and set me on his lap.

There was no need for words, and no words were spoken. After a while I stopped sobbing, and looked up at Edward. I could tell that he was in pain from seeing me in pain, and I felt horrible.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him. Immediately, his face softened.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he replied. He pulled me closer to him, and placed a small kiss on the top of my head. "They're going to be fine," he whispered. "They're going to be fine."

And I knew that eventually, they _would_ be fine. And so would I, because I had Edward here with me. And as long as I had him, I would be okay.

I stood in from of the Cullen's white house, staring at nothing in particular. Edward, Alice, Jasper and I had just returned from hunting, and now the others were moving boxes into the various Cullen cars. Edward came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, and gently kissed the back of my neck.

"We'll be back sometime, love," he murmured. "It's not goodbye forever."

I sighed. To me, this certainly felt like a goodbye forever. Never to see Charlie or Renée again, or Jake, or any of my other high school friends. We may come back to Forks one day, but the people I loved wouldn't be here.

Edward let go of my waist, but grabbed my hang and gave it a gentle tug. _We have to leave_, he thought.

_I'll be right there_, I thought back. I stole one last glance at the Cullen's – my – house, then closed my eyes. I pictured all of my friend's faces in my head, happy and smiling. Charlie, Renée and Phil, Jacob and the rest of the pack, Angela, Mike, and Jessica, and my other high school friends.

_I love you all, _I thought to them_, and I'm alright._

I opened my eyes and turned to face the cars where my new family was standing, waiting for me. Carlisle with his arm around Esme, Emmett grinning at me, Rosalie with the hint of a smile on her face, petite Alice with a large, knowing smile, her hand intertwined with Jasper's, and of course, Edward. I ran to him and hugged him, saying "I love you."

"GRUG TIME!!" Emmett yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Grug?" I asked, but before anyone could answer me, I was being pulled into a bone crushing hug by Emmett, then joined shortly by everyone else.

"The Cullen's have a tradition of having a big group hug – or 'grug', if you will – before we leave our home to start over somewhere else," Emmett explained, laughing, as the grug ended.

Everyone was laughing and talking, and then Edward pulled me into his Volvo, saying "We're going to get a head start."

As we pulled out of the driveway, I thought I heard Emmett yell to us, "Have fun making out!"

We sat in silence for a while, and somehow, it was uncomfortable. I could tell that Edward expected me to start sobbing again, but I knew I wouldn't. I needed to try to move on – to start to live my life.

We had only just past Forks High School when Edward pulled over. He rolled down the windows of the Volvo, and we both sat in silence for a moment. Finally, he said, "You don't regret it, do you?"

I knew what he meant without him having to explain any further, and I quickly replied, "Of course not." Edward didn't look convinced.

I sighed, annoyed that he didn't quite get it. "Edward," I said in a stern tone. "Listen to me. Of course I'm going to be upset about having to leave Forks, and my family and friends. But, in the end, it's all worth it because I get to be with you and your family. You are the love of my life, and without you, my life is completely meaningless. Even if the choice was between you, and a thousand wonderful lives like the one I'm leaving behind, I would choose you. I love you more than everything else in the world combined," I said, repeating something I had said to him a year ago.

I looked up at him, hoping to see some understanding in his face. But I wasn't prepared for what I did see, and it knocked me breathless.

He was absolutely glowing – his eyes were lit up, and his wide smile made his angelic face look even more beautiful than usual. He crushed his mouth into mine, and kissed me with more passion than ever before.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you make me the happiest man in the world," he whispered raggedly as we broke for the air that neither of us really needed.

"I try," I whispered back. Then I pulled him close to me again and kissed him. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard the sound of another car passing us on the road. Then I heard a horn honk, and grinned against Edward's lips as he told me through his thoughts that it was Emmett. We broke apart, and Edward stuck his hand out the window of his car, giving the red Jeep a rude gesture, to which Emmett honked the horn again.

I laughed out loud and turned my attention back to Edward, who had my favorite crooked grin across his beautiful face. He kissed me softly, then put the car in drive, and drove away from Forks, and to our new life.


	6. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, or the soon-to-be-released Breaking Dawn

**Last chapter! Enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Twilight**_**, **_**New Moon**_**, **_**Eclipse**_**, or the soon-to-be-released **_**Breaking Dawn**_**. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer—only the plot of this story is mine.**

**Epilogue**

I took an unnecessary deep breath and stole one last glance at myself in the mirror. My brown hair was up in some sort of odd, creative twist – courtesy of Rosalie Hale – who apparently had a lot of practice with weird-but-pretty hair styles from her human days. My makeup was beautifully done – courtesy of Alice Cullen. It wasn't too dramatic, but still noticeable. The biggest thrill for me was the brown contacts Alice had given me.

I sighed once more at my reflection; I never knew I could look so stunning, and although I wasn't normally one to be vain, I had to admit that I was rather thrilled by how beautiful I looked today. I admired my wedding gown, and reminded myself to thank Alice, again, for finding the perfect dress. It reminded me of the kind of dress women wore during Edward's human days. I was completely in love with the beautiful dress from the moment I saw it, just as Alice knew I would be.

Alice adjusted my lacey veil one last time, so it hung perfectly over the back of my dress. She gave me a reassuring smile, and murmured "I think you're ready." A nervous smile was my reply, and then turned away from the mirror, towards the door. I picked up my bouquet – made up of white roses and, of course, white freesias – and then made my way out of the small room.

I walked slowly down the hall towards the back door, trying to stop my nervous shaking. Our wedding was being held in the backyard of our new house in Alaska; since all the guests at our wedding were vampires, it didn't matter that it was a little cold out. We had only invited our family and the Denali coven, all of whom I had grown to love in the few days we had lived in Alaska.

Alice stopped as we approached the back door, and looked out the small window in the door. Then she turned around to face me and said, "Everyone is ready." She gave me a large grin, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, Alice," I said as I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "For everything." She winked at me, then opened the back door and hurried to take her seat next to Jasper, amongst Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Tanya, Irina, Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar.

I waited until I heard the music change into a song that Edward had written especially for our wedding. He had recorded it on a CD along with some of his other songs, which had been playing while everyone got settled.

I took a deep breath, and then slowly opened the back door.

Everyone stood up and turned to look at me as they heard the door open, but I didn't notice any of them. My eyes were for one person only.

Edward.

He stood at the end of the isle, next to Carlisle. He looked absolutely stunning in his black tuxedo, and the look on his glorious face knocked me breathless. His light topaz eyes lit up the moment he saw me. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of me, and then I saw a gentle smile play across his too-beautiful face. I saw so many emotions written in his features: happiness, disbelief, amazement, and, of course, love. And then as we finally made eye contact, a full fledged grin burst onto his face, and I could tell that it took a lot of restraint for him to not run down the isle and kiss me breathless right then.

After what seemed like decades, I finally started to slowly make my way down the isle. I could faintly see my new family and friends out of the corner of my eyes, but I barely noticed them, as I kept my eyes locked with Edward the whole time.

As I approached Edward, he reached out his hand, and took it in mine. An electric shock passed through us, and I looked down at out intertwined hands. I sighed as I looked up at him again, struck again with the incredible realization that he was here for _me. _That look of love in his eyes was for _me._ I made sure not to blink, still afraid, even after all this time, that he would disappear.

Edward turned to look at Carlisle, and he smiled down at both of us before he began.

What was all said, I wasn't quite sure. I was lost in Edward's eyes the whole time, and didn't come back to earth until I felt a gentle pressure on my hands from Edward as he whispered the words, "I will."

I turned to look at Carlisle for a moment before turning back to look at Edward. "And do you, Isabella Marie Swan, take Edward Anthony Masen Cullen to be your husband in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon him your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?"

I looked deep into Edward's eyes and said in what was barely a whisper, "I will."

"Edward," Carlisle said, "in placing this ring on Bella's finger, repeat after me: Isabella Marie Swan,"

"Isabella Marie Swan," Edward repeated.

"You are now consecrated to me as my wife from this day forward," Carlisle continued.

"You are now consecrated to me as my wife from this day forward," Edward said, his voice full of emotion.

"And I give you this ring as the pledge of my love, and as the symbol of our unity."

"And I give you this ring as the pledge of my love, and as the symbol of our unity." Edward gently slipped the beautiful ring on my finger.

"And with this ring, I thee wed." Carlisle said.

"And with this ring," Edward said slowly and carefully, "I thee wed."

"Isabella," Carlisle said, turning to me, "in placing this ring on Edward's finger, repeat after me: Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,"

I repeated everything Carlisle said, trying to keep my voice from breaking. However, my voice shook slightly as I murmured to him, "I thee wed."

Carlisle smiled down on us again, and I knew how happy he was that his son, whom he loved so much, had finally found happiness in my life. I marveled at the fact that the happiness he had found was me.

"And now, I pronounce you man and wife," Carlisle said, with a hint of a smile on his face at the word 'man.' "You may kiss the bride."

Edward's topaz eyes smoldered as he pulled me close to him, and we shared the first kiss of the rest of our lives.

I smiled against his lips as I heard the cheers from the crowd, and we broke apart laughing. I turned and looked out at my friends and family, and beamed as Edward gave my hand a tight squeeze. He picked me up and carried me back down the isle, and into the living room where we greeted our guests.

Esme could hardly suppress her happiness; her smile never faltered, even for an instant. Carlisle and Jasper both gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Emmett's booming laugh was heard often, and I even received a genuine smile from Rosalie. My new friends from Denali each hugged me in turn, and wished me well with Edward. The best part, though, was when Alice gave me a huge hug, and said to Edward in a triumphant voice, "I told you so." He couldn't help but smile at her.

"Yes, Alice, you did. I'll never be betting against you again."

She smiled her angelic smile at him, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Edward smiled down at me, positively beaming, and whispered into my ear, "You don't mind if we take a break from the party for a moment, do you?" I shook my head as a shiver ran through me, his velvety, seductive voice reminding me of what was to come later that night. He scooped me into his arms again, and ran upstairs into our new bedroom.

He set me down smoothly on our bed, then lowered himself gently on top of me. I pulled him close to me, and kissed him passionately.

"I love you, Isabella Marie Cullen," he whispered against my lips.

And I knew then, that this was what the rest of my life would be like. Sure, I would have some ups and downs, but no matter what life threw at me, I would always be able to get through it, with Edward by my side. And he would be by my side, for the rest of eternity. Forever.

And that, for me, was complete happiness.


End file.
